Today, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-10) and Congressman Bob Goodlatte’s (R-06) bill H.R. 3697 “Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act” passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Once again we have seen a proliferation of gang violence and a growth of gang membership in the Commonwealth. Combating this scourge has been a priority for all Virginia Republicans. Gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie has worked tirelessly, like Congresswoman Comstock, to come up with a plan to make our communities safer.

RPV Chairman John Whitbeck issued the following statement:

“As a resident of Northern Virginia and the 10th Congressional District, I’m once again proud to see my Congresswoman, Barbara Comstock, leading and fighting for safety in our communities and to see our Congressional delegation rally around such an important issue in the Commonwealth.”

“It’s wonderful to see the synergy between our Gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie and Congresswoman Comstock on this important issue. Ed has a clear vision for combating gang violence and making our communities in the Commonwealth safe, which will be a top prior as our next Governor.”

RPV Chairman John Whitbeck issued the following statement:
“The vandalism of the Thomas Jefferson statue at the University of Virginia is the next step in the extreme left’s movement to erase our history. The defacing of our historical monuments is not free speech, it is a criminal offense, plain and simple. I urge the Charlottesville police and University administration to move swiftly to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We cannot tolerate lawlessness and extreme political correctness masking as free speech any longer.”

Earlier today, the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors voted to keep a number of historic statues in place on campus. Democrat nominee Ralph Northam, himself a VMI grad, has made it clear that he wants any and all Confederate statues removed. Members of the VMI board are appointed by the Governor.

Speaking to WFIR last month, Northam made it clear that, if elected, he would bring monuments down:

“…I will do everything that I can, that I have authority to do to remove the statues at the state level.”

RPV Chairman John Whitbeck issued the following statement:

“It’s clear now that Ralph Northam would use his power as Governor to appoint – and remove – members of the VMI board to see that these historic monuments are removed from the campus. As Ralph Northam himself is fond of saying, ‘If we can’t change their minds, we’ll have to change their seats.'”

Ralph Northam made a doozy of a promise last night at the NAACP forum. Expanding Medicaid in Virginia would bring $10 billion in to the Commonwealth for things like pre-K education, transportation, and first responders – in addition to expanding Virginia’s Medicaid program.

When asked how he’d accomplish this magical financial feat, Northam dismissed the question.

“Because Medicaid is one of the largest costs to the Commonwealth of Virginia. So if you add $10 billion to our coffers so that we can pay for Medicaid, that frees up a lot of other money in the General Fund that we can use for education, transportation, first responders. Simple math.”

RPV Chairman John Whitbeck issued the following statement:

“I honestly don’t know what’s more shocking: the possibility that Ralph Northam is either terribly ill informed about the mechanics of Medicaid expansion, or that he’s willing to be so brazenly dishonest about it.”

“Calling Northam’s ‘simple math’ statement wrong doesn’t go far enough. Money for Medicaid expansion is set aside to do just that — expand Medicaid to new patients. Virginia wouldn’t be getting $10 billion in free federal cash to spend as it pleases. To promise the Commonwealth otherwise is deeply, deeply dishonest. Ralph should be ashamed of himself.”

“Today’s policy announcement is yet another forward-thinking, common sense plan from our GOP ticket. Ed Gillespie’s plan puts an emphasis on reforms that will make our justice system more fair and provide second chances to those who have paid their debt to society, without trading safety of other citizens of the Commonwealth.”

“I applaud Ed’s reforms and commitment to safety for the Commonwealth through his cohesive policy proposals to keep the Commonwealth’s justice system fair. Fairness, justice, and safety should be the birthright of ALL Virginians.”

If there was any doubt that Virginia Democrats have written off any part of Virginia outside Virginia’s urban crescent, Labor Day weekend put them to to rest. Rather than march in the traditional Labor Day parade in Buena Vista, all three Democrats decided they needed to be somewhere more urban – and more friendly – citing ‘a tight schedule.’ After helicoptering in for a cameo appearance in front of a handful of Democratic supporters, they were gone in a flash to Rep. Bobby Scott’s annual picnic in Norfolk.

RPV Chairman John Whitbeck issued the following statement:

“Ralph Northam and the rest of the Democratic ticket have made it clear: if you’re more than a few minutes from the urban crescent, they don’t care about you or your concerns. Winning the nomination over Tom Perriello has pushed the entire Democratic ticket so far to the left that even attempting to appeal to voters outside of liberal city centers will cost them votes from the party’s base.

“Ralph Northam has made it clear that he’ll be there for rural Virginia, provided it’s convenient to his schedule. Just ask the Center for Rural Virginia Board, where the only thing you count on Ralph Northam to do was not show up.”

“Our Republican ticket is taking their ideas to ALL Virginians, not just those in areas plush with Democratic votes. Virginians have taken notice and are excited to elect a GOP Executive Branch in November.”

GREETINGS FROM BUENA VISTA!

Dear Ralph,

We hope all is well with you. We missed you yesterday at the 47th annual Buena Vista Labor Day Parade. The event used to be one of Virginia’s longest standing bipartisan political traditions, a forum for candidates from both parties to personally share their messages with the voters of Western Virginia, but because you failed to attend this year, it just wasn’t the same. Honestly, it felt a little one-sided.

Since you were busy flying around in your helicopter to other events with Senator Tim Kaine and the rest of the Democratic ticket, we took plenty of pictures so you could see all that you were missing.

When Ed arrived on scene he was immediately met by a bunch of passionate young volunteers and supporters who had been up since the early hours of the morning setting up lawn signs and getting the parade ready to go.

Next, Jill Vogel, John Adams, Congressman Goodlatte and their teams joined him for this great shot in front of his campaign RV. It’s shame Mark Herring and Justin Fairfax couldn’t have made either. It’s ok, Jill and John had enough energy to make up for them not attending.

After that, Ed did a great interview hit with WSLS and WSET.

The parade then got started and Ed took his place in the lineup right behind the local boy scouts and the outstanding bagpipers from VMI, your own alma mater.

Ed made sure he shook twice as many hands for you…

And he was having so many great conversations with attendees, that he often had to hustle to catch back up to the rest of the parade. (Running for governor isn’t just a figure of speech!)

It was a beautiful day, and Virginians of all ages were out in full force.

Local law enforcement members did a fine job making sure everyone was able to march safely.

It was then time for candidate speeches and our side of the pavilion was filled with excitement.

We did happen to see some of your supporters there as well. Look! It seems like they even saved you some seats in case you changed your mind about coming at the last minute.

When it was Ed’s turn to speak he knew he had a difficult task. It’s not easy headlining for a crowd that is expecting to hear from both political parties. Good thing he’s running a campaign for ALL Virginians and has 14 detailed policy proposals that provide substantive solutions for Virginians in every corner of the Commonwealth. Ed talked about getting Virginia’s economy growing again after four years of anemic economic growth, rebuilding our public schools, fixing our transportation system and keeping Virginia safe. He made sure all who were in attendance knew that if he’s entrusted to lead the Commonwealth of Virginia he will be an honest, ethical, hardworking, principled, faithful, servant leader worthy of Virginia – because we could use one of those right about now.

Then it was time to gas up the RV and head to the next stop. Ed has a lot of work to do and a lot of people to talk to over the next couple of months.

Again, sorry you couldn’t be with us yesterday, Ralph. Although we’re still confused why you didn’t show up, and we’re sure the voters of Western Virginia feel the same way.

On yesterday’s WAMU’s ‘Weekly Politics Wrap’, Matt McCleskey and Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney took stock of what was a busy week on Virginia’s campaign trail. Driving their discussion, was Governor McAuliffe’s most recent flip-flop on historical monuments (his second, for those counting) and the political mess it leaves Ralph Northam.

Matt McCleskey: Where does that leave the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and McAuliffe’s lieutenant governor, Ralph Northam?

Robert McCartney: Northam’s staked out a tough position on this, in favor of removing them. Now McAuliffe’s sawing off the tree limb that he’s sitting on.

And despite doing all he can to distract Virginians from his unpopular and hastily thrown-together policy pronouncement, Ralph Northam has pledged to do all he can to take down Virginia’s historical monuments.

Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Northam has pledged to do everything that he can to remove statues at the state level.

That puts Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring in quite a bind. Do they stick with Ralph Northam, and support statue removal at all costs — including the cost of more teachers in the classroom — or do they break with their ticket leader and support Governor McAuliffe’s newfound financial pragmatism?

School Funding, or Statute Removal? Virginia voters need to know where these two Democrats stand.

— Northam on WFIR: “I will do everything that I can, that I have authority to do to remove the statues at the state level.” —

–McAuliffe on WRVA: Richmond schools should take precedence over removing statues on Monument Avenue. —

While Lt. Governor Northam recently pledged to do ‘everything that he can to remove statues at the state level,’ Governor Terry McAuliffe this morning on WRVA’s “Ask the Governor” program, made clear he believes that Richmond’s crumbling school system should take precedence over what could be a cost of $10 million for the removal of Richmond’s statues.

Yesterday, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported that Richmond schools are still short about 90 teachers a week before first day of school (RTD, 8/30/17).

Question for Ralph Northam: Does Ralph Northam believe that removing historical statues should come at the expense of critical dollars for Richmond’s schools?

Ralph Northam won’t answer this question. Because he can’t.

Transcript:

BARRETT: From a practical taxpayer standpoint then, let’s take Richmond for example because Richmond obviously has Monument Avenue and there’s a lot of statues on Monument Avenue, very big statues, very heavy statues, who’s going to pay to move those? You have failing public schools. Are we going to use taxpayer dollars to move statues?

MCAULIFFE: Jimmy, I just told you the City has to make a decision. I don’t want to spend this whole show on monuments. People got to make their own decision –

BARRETT: Aren’t you going to be introducing a bill though regarding at least the Robert E. Lee monument, right?

MCAULIFFE: We could. We might. That is state –

BARRETT: That’s on state property.

MCAULIFFE: Yeah, but the General Assembly has to make that decision. But I go to where you were going, I got needs for schools today, I got a lot of issues I have to deal with for school funding, that’s what people want me to talk about…
…

VALERIE: First of all, governor, I really appreciate the hard work ethic that you are encouraging the citizens to have, that’s wonderful. I was wondering about, why can we not rename the avenue “Progress Avenue” and continue to construct monuments that have to do with our progress. So there’s a Maggie Walker. Continue going forward of adding monuments that just show our progress, where we’ve come from and where we’re going.

BARRETT: I think that’s a great idea, that’s a perfect history lesson.

MCAULIFFE: Yep, and I think that’s where Mayor Stoney was – he originally talked about putting some of these in context. And listen, if I’m the mayor of Richmond or I’m on the City Council I’m faced with a tough decision. Do I spend, I don’t know, five to ten million dollars taking something down when I got schools – I’ll tell you my first priority has got to be schools because I got to get people employed. Richmond has to deal with the issue that a lot of folks, young millennials are here, but then when they have children they sort of move out to the neighboring jurisdictions for education. We got to keep everybody right here in this beautiful city. And that’s their biggest challenge. So I would agree with Valerie, let’s go ahead and put some context to these things and move forward. This is going to be a debate that’s going on for a long time. But what I try to get back to, and everybody likes to latch on to this monument – this isn’t about monuments. It’s much bigger, it’s much broader, and I got to fix education and we got to work on the things, Jimmy, to give everybody an opportunity.